On Saturday, Alabama will officially put the longest offseason in recent memory to rest when the Crimson Tide takes on Missouri at 6 p.m. CT
At most positions, Alabama has the luxury of starting experienced players. In several cases these guys have the chance to chase school records this year, but that's not where this list will start.
First, let's take a look at some defensive newcomers that have stolen the spotlight recently.
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A pair of freshmen are slated to start for Alabama’s defense on Saturday. Will Anderson Jr. will get the first crack at the Jack linebacker position. Interestingly enough, his backup is fellow freshman Drew Sanders.
The other freshman starter hasn’t been officially announced, but Alabama’s depth chart narrowed the Star competition down to freshmen Malachi Moore and Brian Branch.
Four freshmen started the Crimson Tide’s season-opener against Duke: DJ Dale, Christian Harris, Shane Lee and Evan Neal.
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Alabama has beaten Missouri three times since the Tigers joined the Southeastern conference back in 2012. None of the meetings have been close as Alabama won by 29 points or more in all three games.
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Despite facing the Crimson Tide in the first week, the Tigers won’t be at full strength. Seven unnamed Missouri players will miss this one due to COVID-19 protocols. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz expected that number to be as high as 12 until Wednesday when further testing found a previously inconclusive test to be negative.
Getting those players back could be crucial as Drinkwitz said the team was ‘dangerously’ close to every SEC threshold for play this season. Teams who failed to field one quarterback, seven offensive linemen or four defensive linemen can choose to have the SEC declare the game a no-contest. Drinkwitz said his team shouldn’t have any problems meeting those thresholds, but it’s something that bears watching in 2020.
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Nick Saban is 13-0 in opening games since arriving in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has looked especially dominant across the last four openers when the Crimson Tide beat Duke, Louisville, Florida State and USC by an average of 34.8 points per game.
In Saban’s tenure, Alabama won those 13 games by an average of 29.5 points per game. Oh, and did I mention that the Crimson Tide is currently a 27-point favorite over Missouri.
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That’s how many yards receiver Jaylen Waddle averaged returning punts last season. No one else in the nation topped that mark, and he doesn’t even have to be that successful this time around to take the program’s all-time punt return average away from Javier Arenas (14.1 yards on average).
Waddle’s current career average- 20 yards.
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Christian Barmore’s availability Saturday remained in doubt when Saban addressed the media on Wednesday night, but he’s easily the most productive returning pass-rusher from last year’s team.
In 2019, Barmore recorded 26 total pressures while receiving a Pro Football Focus pass-rushing grade of 88.1. Only Anfernee Jennings and Terrell Lewis recorded more total pressures last season and reserve linebacker Shane Lee is the only other returner with more than 10 last year (18).
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Based on Alabama’s official depth chart, Alabama’s starting offensive line will most likely consist of Alex Leatherwood, Deonte Brown, Landon Dickerson, Emil Ekiyor Jr. and Evan Neal.
Those guys have 64 starts between them which is well ahead of where last year’s group began with only 43 starts. Both Leatherwood (28) and Dickerson (20) have started at least 20 games already. The last offensive linemen to reach that threshold before the season began was Jonah Williams and Ross Pierschbacher in 2018.
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That’s how many rushing yards Najee Harris will need to get per game, assuming Alabama only plays 11 times, if he’s going to finish with the Crimson Tide’s all-time rushing record. The Crimson Tide could technically play 13 games this season if Alabama wins the SEC West and then makes it back to the playoff's final round. Under that scenario, Harris would only need to average 94 yards per game.
The current mark to beat, 2,377 yards, belongs to former Heisman winner Derrick Henry.
If Harris is indeed hoping to make a run at the prestigious award, shattering Henry’s career-record would be a nice feather in his cap.
